CROMWELL, Conn. (WTIC Radio) - The Connecticut Better Business Bureau is warning residents of a PayPal scam.
A New Canaan, Connecticut business owner says her company was recently the target of a fake invoice scam involving PayPal.
The reports began coming into BBB’s Scam Tracker on February, 26th.
The Better Business Bureau received more than 150 reports in less than a week and as of Monday, has close to 200 Scam Tracker reports from across the country, including one that states an entire Pennsylvania school district was hit with this scam.
The email, which appears to come from PayPal, states there is an unpaid invoice from Palomino Bazaar, LLC for around $1,000.
It instructs the recipient to call a number if they don't recognize the charge.
There are links to "view" or "pay" the bill.
The phone number is not the actual number to PayPal but the link did lead to a cloned Palomino Bazaar PayPal account to accept payments, but the actual company's account isn't active.
BBB tips for businesses to avoid impersonation scams
- Maintain and regularly inspect your online presence
- Do regular searches on your business and its reviews
- Monitor any similar businesses that may overlap with your brand
- Use reverse image search if you believe someone has taken pictures from your website
- Report this and other scams to BBB’s Scam Tracker, even if you don’t lose money, to warn others.
